Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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581.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of rejected applications to the Shannon Callows flood scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25379/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Following exceptional flooding in the Shannon Callows during summer 2023, on 7 November 2023, the Deputy will be aware I announced the launch of the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme. The aim of the scheme was to support farmers who had lost fodder due to flooding in the region during summer 2023 and for payments to issue quickly to alleviate the hardship.

In that context, I allocated funding of approximately €800,000 which allowed for a payment rate of €325 per hectare. This was for LPIS parcels in the Shannon Callows Special Area of Conservation (SAC) impacted as determined by my Department's Earth Observation team, utilising the Area Monitoring System, and which were claimed by farmers on their 2023 Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) application.

My Department contacted all the farmers that the Earth Observation team, utilising the Area Monitoring System, identified as having been impacted by the flooding and provided them with a simple application form for them to sign and return if they wished to apply for the support. Farmers were asked to confirm they had lost fodder as a result of the exceptional flooding in order to receive payment.

A total of 277 expression of interest letters including the application form were issued in November and December of 2023, with 275 out of 277 applications returned and paid as of this date with the vast majority paid before Christmas 2023. The outstanding 2 applications were not rejected, rather the farmer has not returned the application form.

Where a farmer was not contacted by my Department regarding the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme (i.e. they were not within the 277 eligible applicants), they are not considered to have been eligible, based on either the analysis of the flooding data during the period 2 July 2023 to 29 September 2023 and/or their land parcels not being located within the Shannon Callows SAC. Therefore none of the eligible 277 applicants for the scheme were rejected.

My Department has received an approximately similar number of queries from farmers who did not meet the eligibility criteria such as requisite number of flood days or who were located outside of the Shannon Callows SAC. My Department is continuing to respond to such queries and where an application has been rejected, the farmer has been given the right of appeal to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office.